Published July 28, 2021 4: 12pm
Even President Rodrigo Duterte has given a “clear signal” that he will no longer dance to Cha-cha or charter change in his last year in Malacañang.
Drilon made the statement amid renewed calls of some government officials and congressmen for the Senate to pass the Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 which aims to lift restrictive economic provision in the 1987 Constitution.
“Cha-cha is like the COVID-19 virus that resurrects regularly…The President delivered the longest [State of the Nation Address] in the post-EDSA era for a total duration of two hours and 45 minutes. That’s the longest that I can remember. Not one minute was devoted to Cha-cha,” Drilon said.
“The signal is clear: in the last year of Duterte, he will not dance the Cha-cha,” he added.
The minority leader underscored that the President has not discussed Cha-cha even in his last three SONAs.
Drilon reiterated that the economic Cha-cha being pushed by the Lower House can be addressed by the enactment of various economic measures that are currently pending in Congress.
“The liberalization of the investment climate can be achieved in the major sectors of our economy by the enactment of the proposed amendments to the Public Service Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investment Act, and the other economic bills in the LEDAC list,” Drilon stressed.
LEDAC refers to the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council.
These economic bills were mentioned by Duterte in his latest SONA. He also certified these as urgent last April.
“No chance that the Senators will dance the ‘economic cha-cha’ in the remaining months of the 18th Congress. Dancing the Cha-cha is not in the Senate’s agenda,” Drilon said.
He added that no senators have pushed for Cha-cha in their caucus held last Tuesday.
Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the economic Cha-cha as proposed by the House will no longer be “effective” as this will require a plebiscite.
“So, it will have to wait until May of 2022 para mapasa ‘yung plebisito na ‘yan..In the meantime, may mga nakapending sa amin at saka mga naipasa namin na mga economic measures for economic recovery, also addressing the pandemic. It might be able to answer the intent of the economic Cha-cha already. We will have plenty of time to do that,” Sotto said.
(It will have to wait until May of 2022 so that the plebiscite can be held. In the meantime, there are pending bills in our chamber for economic recovery also addressing the pandemic. It might be able to answer the intent of the economic Cha-cha already. We will have plenty of time to do that.)—AOL, GMA News
